Snow snark with Jake

Hi, snark-hoppers! Today’s tidbit is from Snow on the Mountain. Jake opened the book by rescuing a child from a fall off a ski lift, and the newsies have gotten wind of it. You can tell what Jake thinks of his new heroic status.

So I spent my lunch hour explaining in very little detail about how Todd came to topple and about the rescue, showing distressing tendencies—I was sure it would get edited out—to talk about rock climbing, and mentioning Egon’s role in making the climb possible. The wind was starting to whip up, blowing the needles of snow into Ms. Perky’s unprotected face while I droned on from the warmth of my scarf. She’d get edited out, with that tendril of hair that kept flying across her face to make a lopsided mustache every time she turned to keep the slope and the lift in the background. She’d never make anchorwoman, I thought uncharitably, if she didn’t have the sense to braid her hair for the slopes.

Channel 4 sent Ms. Businesslike, who had dressed sensibly and styled her hair for the wind, and a cameraman. They spotted us before Ms. Perky was finished with me. While waiting their turn, Roy laid out the ground rules, giving me hope that I might get to my hot soup before dark.

“Late again, I see,” Ms. Perky told Ms. Businesslike as she and her crewman headed out.

Champagne powder snow, gorgeously groomed slopes, and elegant hotels draw the expert and the wealthy to the exclusive Wapiti Creek Ski Resort, but for Jake Landon and Kurt Carlson, the lure is work. A novice skier, Jake’s been assigned to run the bunny lift, but Kurt’s afraid he’ll be stuck shoveling snow all winter. Instructing at a private ski school should be his dream job, but it brings giggles and sideways glances among their new friends.

All summer, Jake and Kurt were alone in the wilderness. If Jake wanted to stay in the closet, it didn’t matter. Now they have to navigate a relationship in public, where the five-year-old twins who’ve adopted Jake as their ski buddy are as big a nuisance as the ski patroller who has a crush on him. Would-be friends, vicious coworkers, and the perils of the mountain could mean the end for Kurt and Jake, but their biggest danger comes from each other.

Bonus story: Mistletoe on the Mountain

Jake’s agonizing over what to give Kurt for their first Christmas together—he knows what Kurt wants most can’t be gift wrapped.